ELORA – The Elora Centre for the Arts has asked Centre Wellington Council for $100,000 annually as part of the township’s 2019 budget deliberations.
On Feb. 6 the township held its first day of budget discussions and offered community members a chance to ask council to include their project or area of concern in this year’s budget.
On Feb. 7 council discussed each of the requests.
Elora Centre for the Arts
The Elora Centre for the Arts asked council for $100,000 per year to pay the salary for a full-time executive director as well as a part-time fundraiser.
“The result would be a sustainable Centre for the Arts that is growing and thriving and can be a bigger asset to the community both for local folks and for tourists,” Elora Centre for the Arts board member Lee Bonnell said.
The increased revenue would help pay off the centre’s debt and the remaining money would be put into further programing and a contingency fund for building repairs, explained Bonnell.
The result, Bonnell said, will be “a centre for the arts that will not just survive but will thrive.”
The Elora Centre for the Arts received $480,000 from the MacDonald Trust for reconstruction costs and for a feasibility study last year. However, due to a clause in the MacDonald Trust agreement, that money cannot be used for operating costs.
The next morning councillor Neil Dunsmore asked for more information about the financial status of the Elora Centre for the Arts.
CAO Andy Goldie confirmed the centre does have a $50,000 interest-free loan from the township that will be paid off over a 10-year period (the agreement began last year). The township also provides a free page in the Leisure Guide for the Centre for the Arts to advertise.
“That’s the only organization I believe that we offer a free service for that,” Goldie said. “All the other services are paid.”
He explained the building is a big cost for the centre because it seems to have major costs pop up – for example a boiler breaks – whenever the centre has its expenses planned out.
Councillor Ian MacRae said the township invests much into sports in the township and the question is whether the arts is equally funded.
Councillor Kirk McElwain agreed, saying arts are needed and it’s a large tourist draw for the community.
However, as Mayor Kelly Linton pointed out, the debate is not whether sports and arts are both important, it’s the ask for $100,000 annually to help pay for the centre’s operational costs.
“I have a challenge with setting a precedent for paying the operations on a continual basis,” Linton said.
“Once we do it once that’s going to be a challenge, but I do understand where we’re coming from because we do support the facilities for sports; we do do all that kind of stuff for the sports side so that would be more consistent.”
However, Linton made it clear the township pays the wages for the people who work at the sportsplex and sports facilities because they are township employees. The centre for the arts request is not for a township employee.
All councillors (except Steven VanLeeuwen who was absent at the time) agreed they didn’t want to set a precedent by agreeing to pay salaries for external organizations.
After much discussion it was decided staff would go back to the Elora Centre for the Arts and evaluate what other capital needs they have that require funding, with the idea that the township may be able to contribute to a different project and save the centre $100,000 that could then be used for staff salaries.
Bridges
Three delegations were scheduled to ask council to open bridges close to their properties, but only two attended.
The delegations both spoke about how difficult it is for emergency vehicles to get to where they need to go when bridges and roads are closed.
Managing director of infrastructure services Colin Baker said the goal of the bridge plan is to prevent any portion of the township from being completely cut off.
“What we do see is more the north/south lines/roads have a larger impact on emergency response times and so those ones are getting a higher priority just because of that impact,” Baker said.
“So that is worked into the formula.”
Resident David Bearinger appealed to council to open bridge 24-P on the 3rd Line in former Pilkington Township.
He said the concession road has been closed for six years and there are three families in the area that use a horse and buggy.
“Being those bridges are closed we have to drive at the least, especially in the winter, four miles extra plus all the miles we put on that we normally have to do,” Bearinger said.
“(On) the weekend it was very, very cold so those extra four miles, they tend to tire you out.”
Linton explained work on 24-P will begin this year and it will be rebuilt next year.
Resident Emanuel Gingrich asked that bridge 5-P on Weisenbert Road be re-opened. He said the bridge closed about six or eight years ago and now there’s a new church on the other side so there would be much horse and buggy traffic using the bridge if it were open.
Baker said any additional traffic would have been worked into the average amount of vehicle traffic volume the township noted when the bridge was closed and when it was scheduled to be reopened.
He also said mail service on the road is discontinued because the bridge is out.
Linton said the bridge is scheduled to be completed in 2024. The bridge will need to be rebuilt.
“We’re concerned the structure will actually just fall into the river, that’s how far gone it is,” Baker said.
There are 12 bridges closed in the township now.
“We wouldn’t mind having a road somewhere that’s open,” said a member of the public. “Pretty soon we won’t be able to come and pay our taxes because there’ll be no way to get here.”
Some councillors asked why money from paving roads couldn’t be put into fixing bridges to move up some of the priority bridges in the schedule.
“I do want to caution that when we move away from our bridges and our priorities and our professional staff’s opinion on things, as a group of councillors we have to take that really seriously,” Linton said.
“A lot of thought and effort and priories have been established … so we have to seriously consider whether we want to deviate.”
Paving
Donna Madore, who lives on Fergus’ 1st Line, came as a representative for her neighbours and asked that their road be paved. She brought a petition with 60 signatures.
She said that in 2017 the road was turned into a dirt road, but it doesn’t have the base to be a dirt road.
“It potholes very easily,” Madore said. “It’s slushy and it needs a ton of grading throughout the season to keep it in decent shape. Each time it rains the work of the grader and the calcium spray is rendered useless.”
Currently scheduled to take place in 2021, she asked that it be completed sooner.
Centre Wellington Sports Alliance
The Centre Wellington Sports Alliance, representing the Fergus-Elora District Soccer Club (FEDS), Highland Rugby Club and Centre Wellington Mohawks Lacrosse, asked for a indoor turf facility.
Representative Curt McQueen, president of FEDS, said the facility would allow the sports organizations to practice indoors throughout the winter months while staying in the community.
McQueen said all three organizations would be willing to fundraise and contribute financially to the construction of the facility.
“Obviously whatever we can get off the taxpayer is always going to be beneficial so any thoughts that you had regarding joint fundraising, facility sponsorship opportunities … are very worthwhile,” Linton said.
Dan Wilson, township director of corporate services, explained that if the community group comes forward with 50% of the costs for a feasibility study the township could potentially put in the other 50% from development charges.
VanLeeuwen said he doesn’t see why the feasibility study couldn’t be bumped up to this year and McElwain said he doesn’t see why the township would say no to the Sports Alliance helping with funding.
Councillor Bob Foster made a motion to partner with the sports alliance to move the feasibility study forward to 2019, given that the community group puts up $25,000 (50% of the cost).
The motion was carried unopposed.
Elora and Fergus BIA
Elora and Fergus BIA administrator Fred Gordon offered council a BIA update.
He also asked that additional township funding be put into a bylaw officer to help resolve parking issues in downtown Fergus and Elora. He also asked that council invest funds to help the BIA improve downtown Fergus.
Mayor Kelly Linton said enforced parking will likely come out of the Transportation Master Plan, which will probably be available in a couple of months.
Guelph Humane Society
The Guelph Humane Society is responsible for animal control services in Centre Wellington and Guelph-Eramosa.
Executive director Adrienne McBride and associate director Lisa Veit said the contract fee to provide animal control in both townships went up from 8% of the total humane society budget to 13%. This means the townships would be contributing almost double what they were in the past to the humane society’s budget.
Clerk Kerri O’Kane said that the Guelph Humane Society is the best option for the township at this time.
